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Alien: Resurrection

While I can't deny that Alien: Resurrection has no good reason for existing, I don't hate it nearly as much as most people do. To me, Resurrection has two main issues. The first, and probably the biggest, is the fact that they had to bring back Ripley. While that's not a bad thing in and of itself, and it could have been handled much worse, the cloning idea still seems contrived and unoriginal, and it reeks of studio execs trying to make a quick buck. Seriously, why can't people (studios included) learn to let go? The other issue I have with Alien: Resurrection is the fact that it doesn't seem to fit in with the other Alien movies. The first three all had horror elements, and this one doesn't go that direction, instead going for all action and, surprisingly, comedy. One might argue that it's a good thing this movie tried to do something new with the franchise, but it just doesn't work as an Alien film. With that said, Alien: Resurrection still does quite a few things right, and, as previously mentioned, I actually quite like it. Sigourney Weaver gives her usual strong performance, and her DNA being spliced with that of the Aliens (the best thing to come out of the cloning concept) allows her character to explore a bit of a darker side of her personality, which I thought was interesting. Another highlight was the character of Call. While not Wynona Ryder's strongest performance, the character herself was actually quite interesting, continuing the theme of androids in the Alien movies while also bringing something new to the table by way of making her a theist. This was certainly an interesting dynamic that was explored in one of my favorite scenes, in which Call and Ripley discuss God. This brings me to my next point. I have heard several people say that Resurrection has no memorable scenes, but I must disagree. The aforementioned discussion between Call and Ripley is one of the highlights of the movie. The underwater scene is also well-executed, if drawn out, and it successfully showcases the aliens' ability to swim, while also managing to be one of the most tension filled scenes of the movie (which really isn't saying much, but I meant it as a complement). However, the greatest scene of the movie is unquestionably when Ripley discovers the first seven failed clones. She is visibly horrified by the grotesque abominations before her, and disgusted at the scientists who left one of them behind, still alive and suffering terribly. As she torches the lab with a flamethrower, we can't help but think that scene was very poignant and is definitely the best of the movie. Unfortunately, a poorly timed joke, while funny, kind of kills the mood. One final thing that I liked about the movie was Jean Pierre-Jeunet's direction. While it is far from being his finest work, Resurrection still has that distinct visual flair that Jeunet is known for, and it works well. I also think I should mention the design of the Newborn alien. I think it looks pretty good, being capable of making facial expressions and simultaneously endearing itself to us and disgusting us. All in all, Alien: Resurrection may be the weakest of the series, but it still makes for some campy fun, and there are certainly much worse ways to kill an hour and forty-five minutes. Sex and Nudity- 3/10: Several deformed clones are seen naked. It is non-sexual in nature, and they are so deformed that no sensitive areas are recognizable. A woman receives a sensual foot massage from a man. The area is dimly lit by candles, and the woman is in a thong, revealing part of her buttocks. Violence- 8/10: Several people are killed by aliens. The aliens kill one of their own and use their acid blood to escape from their pen. A part of a man's brain is seen. An alien creature bites off the top of a man's head. It is seen completely bitten in half. A man's head is crushed. An alien creature is sucked into space through a tiny hole in a window. Gallons of blood shoot out into space. Its intestines fall out before being sucked out too. Its skin is then ripped off and its skull crumbles to pieces and shoots out the window. The entire sequence is very disturbing. A woman stabs herself in the hand. Language- 6/10: Around 20 uses of f*ck, several uses of sh*t, and a couple uses of G*ddamn, damn, and misuses of Jesus' name. Hell and ass are also used numerous times.

This review...

Waste of time and money

I can't believe I actually sat through this. Watching as one of my favourite film franchises comes crashing down like this. Alien was a masterpiece of cinema. Aliens was a really cool action movie. Alien 3 was okay. It had it's flaws, and was a bit on the gory side, but it had some cool scenes. This? A total mess. Problem No. 1: There was no reason to make this. The whole story arc had finished in Alien 3, when Ripley falls into the lava, killing the alien inside her, and saving humanity. The end. But they had to revive the franchise to get more cash. Sad. Problem No. 2: Ripley. SHE DIED!!!! If you want to make a sequel, then ditch Ripley, and focus on someone else, like Call. But she returned in a really derivative way. As a clone. And now her whole personality has changed. She's all mean and inhuman. She was really relatable in all the other films, but in this one, she's not. We're so detached to her, we don't care about her. Problem No. 3: The Newborn. Please just stick to Xenomorphs, don't make another alien! But that's what they did. The Newborn is an ugly, horrendous disaster to the franchise. It's an insult to Xenomorph kind. I don't know why I hated it so much, but I just did. When it killed the Alien queen, I felt like screaming at the TV screen. So annoying. Problem No. 4: The tone. Alien was suspense/horror. Aliens was action/horror. Alien 3 was gore/horror. Alien 4 is comedy/action? The tone really doesn't fit the franchise. And most of the jokes aren't really funny. It ditches the suspense , and goes straight to the action, which doesn't work, and the action is extremely unrealistic. And the VFX are quite bad as well. I watched the special edition, and in the opening scene, is one of the worst cgi creatures ever made. The bug looks like it's from a PS1 game. And the Aliens swimming, looked bad as well. They got the motion all wrong there. And also in the special edition, the destroyed Paris looks like a 70s Matte Painting. Lots of people forgive it because it was made in 1997. But that's the same year Jurassic Park 2 and Titanic came out, both of which had stellar cgi that still holds up. No excuse now. Violence 5/5: There's a lot of blood and gore, and aliens and humans alike die bloody deaths. Sex 2/5: Ripley is seen naked once, but not much can be seen. The old attempts at cloning Ripley are also seen naked, and breasts can be seen. Some sex talk, but not much else. Language 4/5: While not as many f-words as Alien 3, there's still a lot. There's a few b-words and s-words as well.
Don't watch this. The action isn't exciting, there is hardly any plot, and is just an attempt to steal some money off you. There are only two good scenes: When Brad Dourif's character is "playing" with the Alien, and when Ripley finds out about the previous cloning attempts, with a nice nod to the original in there too. But nothing else. Sorry for the ranting, but I just really hate this movie. Want a shorter summary? Read the title. My Rating: F+

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This review...

Not as bad as Alien3 but still disappointing and gory.

The goriest movie of the franchise, I watched the whole franchise at the age of 13 but I probably could have waited until I was 14 or even a bit older to see Alien Resurrection. This movie has more graphic deaths then the third movie, more disgusting then scary (so disgusting it's not even scary). There is a lot to mention that I'm not even going to bother mentioning all the deaths. Just watch it and see for yourself.

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Violence & scariness

This review...

Awesome Movie

I really like this movie. I initially thought that it would be worse than Alien 3 but it was so much better: almost as good as the first Alien movie!!! However, their was more blood and gore, and this movie was a little deeper into the 'horror' genre than the rest of the movies in the Alien series. Ripley is part Alien in this movie and can communicate with them, and you wonder throughout most of the movie if the aliens want to keep her alive or kill her. There is talk of 'sex.' One man jokes he 'almost made love to an android.' You feel sad when a baby alien gets sucked out of a hole into space (very gory). Ripley is a halfway between a hero and a villain now, and you want her to win because she's Ripley but don't want her to win because she's and alien. There are dark themes and I can't begin to say the amount of gore... But it is almost as good as the first Alien movie, and a whole lot better than the 2nd and 3rd ones. If you are an Alien movie/Ridley Scott fan then watch it!!!

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This review...

Another unnecessary Alien sequel that no-one asked for.

Although many consider Alien 3 to be the worst of the franchise I personally think that this unneeded money grab of a sequel is far worse. For a start there is not a single relatable character in the film, the once complex and human characters of the first two are all but gone and are instead replaced with one dimensional archetypes. Alien Resurrection only exists to milk money by joining in to the well-known franchise in order to get people to buy tickets. It like Alien 3 is no longer a carefully constructed suspense filled rollercoaster but rather a gore fest that has almost no redeeming qualities. Overall I strongly believe that this is a skippable film that destroys the legacy of the original two Alien films.

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This review...

Way too much violence, alien gets gruesomely killed with guts and blood

This movie has lots of violence, many people are killed and an alien is shown coming out of a giant aliens body. The same alien is shown getting ripped to pieces and a doctor who is half stuck in a pile of alien goo gets his head smashed in. A group of people are infected with aliens by the government, and a clone of a dead woman is cut open. Lots of violent failed clone scenes, with breasts showing. Dying clone asks main character to set him on fire, and android woman gets shot with a gun. An infected man gets shot multiple times while an alien is coming out of him.

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This review...

Not a bad finale is extremely violent, not for kids.

Carnage, characters are clawed, bitten, burnt with acid or have little aliens bursting out of them. Doesn't sound to bad but it is extremely gory, bloody and graphic. Teens could handle it fine but kids under 13 might to be able to sleep. Then again, this movie deserves 3 stars. It isn't as bad as Alien3, at least the script is better. There is some nudity of the Ripley clones but they are deformed and more scary and disturbing, some strong language occurs, the f-word is used around 20 times and 'shit' is used over 40 times. Only worry about violence, for teens it shouldn't be a problem.

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Violence & scariness

This review...

Terrible fourth installment is ultraviolent, grizzly.

"Alien Resurrectrion" is a 1997 sequel to the 1979 science fiction movie "Alien".
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"Oh God, what happened to the Alien saga?" is a question you are not unlikely going to hear yourself asking after watching this movie.
While the first two were excellent and the third one rather good, "Alien Resurrection" has lost its soul. There are no emotions any more, no subtle, frightning athmosphere, no small girl to be prevented from harm.
It doesn't take long in order to realise in which direction this movie goes: in that of a slasher flick. In its entire running time, it is about Aliens killing people. And that's it. The characters lost its depth, and the athmosphere is not subtle or something, but instead tries to show how much violence you can show in about 110 minutes. Even though they are both excellent actresses, neither Sigourney Weaver nor Winona Ryder help this movie.
They have talent, but not the chance to show it. It is hard to believe that the director of this movie later will make the French masterpiece "Amelié".
But quite possibly, you shouldn't blame him, but instead the writer of this movie, for focusing too much on the splatter-like violence, but lacks plot.
If you liked the first three Alien movies, you shouldn't expect much. It is nothing more than a horror flick - but in the end even fails at being any scary.
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(SPOILERS may follow:)
Like the third one and unlike the first two movies, "Alien Resurrection" has a lot of violence. It is actually stronger than its preceeder, but the violence is also more over-the-top, more ridiculous.
A man partly freezes and when trying to move, his arm breaks off (it is shown, but does not look too graphic).
A man gets bitten in the back of his head off-screen, and then pulls a piece of his brains out of the wound - very graphic and gory.
An alien bursts out of a man's chest and through the head of a man in front of him (brief, but gory).
An alien hybrid bites into a man's head, and there is much, much gore and brains, with a graphic wound (this is the most graphic scene of the movie).
An alien hybrid crushes a man's head on-screen, but it is really brief.
We then see the bloody remainings of the alien hybrid's hands.
The alien hybrid gets torn out of the spaceship, but gets disintegrated. We see blood and flesh being sucked into space. At one point, the alien hybrid's stomach bursts open and we see its guts.
Many people are killed by the aliens in other, less graphic ways.
Aliens are killed with acid blood spurting.
The violence is strong and grizzly, but can be considered too over-the-top to be disturbing or scary.
There are about 30 uses of the f-word.
Brief nudity when we see nude clones in tubes. nothing strong.
Mature viewers should be able to handle it. Recommended for viewers 15 and up.

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Violence & scariness

Language

This review...

How the mighty have fallen

Apparently, Alien3 was meant to be the last of the Alien films, and it turned out to be my favorite out of the original quadrilogy. But, of course, everyone hated it, to the extent that the studios were pressured into making another one to try to end the series on a stronger note. Now, what's your definition of "strong"? A painfully dumb action movie featuring heroes with "strong" muscles, or an intelligent movie with a "strong" story? I don't know what they were going for, but this movie is most definitely the latter, and beyond. I mean, really? Is this even an Alien film? I guess a lot of people hated Alien3 because it was too nihilistic, whereas the audience was accustomed to the fun-but-dark military action of Aliens. So in order to please fans, they made Alien Resurrection an action film. But it went WAY too far, basically giving us an out-of-place Schwarzenegger film... without the charm of Schwarzenegger. Now, of course, I love Schwarzenegger films, but for much different reasons than the Alien movies. This film's over-the-top dumbness felt out of place in an Alien film. At least in Aliens, the action had a pretty solid balance of dark and deadpan, whereas Alien Resurrection isn't the least bit dark. Yet the action is somewhat well choreographed, with some pretty decent special effects and sets, a few good over-the-top kills, and some pretty likeable characters, like the wheelchair guy and Ron Perlman. Now, with an action movie that has these good traits, I at least give it a guilty pleasure rating of 3 or 3.5 out of 5. But those movies often have a simple and easy to follow plot that you don't have to put much thought into. But this movie has a very illiterate and incomprehensible plot, with several weird and out-of-place scenes that just cluttered everything. The premise is pretty basic, but it gets into an unnecessary level of complication that, quite frankly, ruined the experience for me, basically in the same way that Pirates of the Caribbean 3 did. And I also thought the plot about cloning Ripley was very muddled and unemotive, giving is no sympathy for Ripley because, well, she's not Ripley. And I did not particularly like Winona Ryder as Call. Not that she was terrible or anything, but she really didn't fit the role, and the character was pretty boring to begin with. The ending was also odd, giving no indication that it would be a series conclusion and instead leaving us kind of ambivalent to the whole thing. Alien Resurrection is just a bad, dumb science fiction movie. It's dumber than most sci-fi movies, but has the laughable pretention of trying to be the Alien conclusion that fans wanted. And while many people considered this better than Alien3 (don't ask why), I consider this a mediocre and unengaging mess of a movie. It's not terrible, but it's a bad series conclusion.

This review...

Unneccesary yet entertaining finale has its pros, and its cons. (Re-review, mild spoilers)

The first thing to know about this film that you should is that it is a horror-comedy. Without this knowledge, you will LOATHE this film, as I did on my first viewing. However, after watching it a second time with said knowledge, I admit that Resurrection is a fun film. The fact that it is a cartoonish horror comedy doesn't help. Alien is a terrifying sci-fi masterpiece. Aliens is one of the greatest action films ever. Alien 3 is an underrated and touching thriller. This is silly. But in its defence it has its funny moments, and of the few action sequences (there are only about 4 in the film) most are entertaining. The characters, while not particularly likeable, are interesting, such as one character who is secretly an android (and a theist one at that, which I found interesting) and another pair who often argue with each other (making for some fun moments). The films main weakness is that the aliens only have about three minutes of screen time, and the amount of humans killed by other humans is almost as many humans who are killed by aliens. Also, there's one ugly alien hybrid that is simply disgusting, and the age old issue with this franchise of euthanasia by flamethrower. Overall, this movie is dumb, but its fun dumb. Some of the characters are down right annoying, but others are interesting. The aliens should have done more, and the ones that do a lot are poorly designed, but we do have some entertaining moments when less important ones show up. This is a popcorn movie, one to end the Alien-Predator saga (chronologically at least) on a high note. Its better than AVP by a mile, better than AVP:R, and I guess its better than Prometheus and on par with Predator 2. Its the weakest of the 4 mainstream Alien movies, and Predator and Predators are also better. But this is a satisfactory end (although Alien 3 had a far more symbolic ending).

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This review...

Entertaining at times, but not nearly as good as aliens

Families need to know that Alien Ressurection is a very violent film, some of the gore was just too much for my liking, it wasn't constant, but in the places where it was present, it was pretty graphic. And if you care about profanity at all, then watch out because the language is pretty rough, it's not like every other word, but it's pretty strong when present. The writing is kind of so so, but the effects are good, the aliens look a heck of a lot better here than in Alien 3. Ron Pearlman's character is the one that is just so vile and constantly saying stuff that is extremely offensive. The movie should be fine for teen 16 and older.

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This review...

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